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Clostridium difficile plasmid isolation as an epidemiologic tool

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Abstract

A large hospital outbreak ofClostridium difficile diarrhea at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center (MVAMC) was studied by plasmid profile typing. Plasmids were obtained from 30 (37 %) of 82 clinical isolates from MVAMC patients and 10 (67 %) of 15 non-MVAMC isolates. While bacteriophage plus bacteriocin typing and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) plus bacterial agglutination typing proved more universally applicable, plasmid profiles may be useful for tracing isolated epidemic outbreaks, reinfections and relapses caused by plasmid-bearing strains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Disease Section, Medical Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, 55417, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    C. Clabots, D. Gerding & L. Peterson

  2. Infectious Disease Section, Medical Service, and the Microbiology Section, Laboratory Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, 55417, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    D. Gerding & L. Peterson

  3. Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 94305, Stanford, California, USA

    S. Lee

  4. Medical and Research Services, Veterans Administration Medical Center, and UCLA, 90073, Los Angeles, California, USA

    M. Mulligan & R. Kwok

  5. Infectious Disease Section, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, 48109, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    D. Schaberg & R. Fekety

Authors
  1. C. Clabots
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  2. S. Lee
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  3. D. Gerding
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  4. M. Mulligan
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  5. R. Kwok
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  6. D. Schaberg
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  7. R. Fekety
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  8. L. Peterson
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Clabots, C., Lee, S., Gerding, D. et al. Clostridium difficile plasmid isolation as an epidemiologic tool. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 7, 312–315 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01963112

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01963112

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